MUTT text-based email client

[Anonymous]

I have been enjoying using the mutt text-based email client.

Very easy to use and fast.

My oldest son introduced this mutt email client to me recently.

It is available in the debian/antiX repository.

Here are the directions on how to install and use mutt for gmail and yahoo mail:

https://mritunjaysharma394.medium.com/how-to-set-up-mutt-text-based-mail-client-with-gmail-993ae40b0003

https://dimitar.gdn/2024/01/how-to-setup-mutt-with-yahoo-mail/

When you launch mutt, it will default to the INBOX of the email.

To get to the SENT, DRAFTS, etc folders,

press c

then select which email folder to go into.

Good luck.

[Brian MasinickModerator]

Yeah, you can connect many different tools to the workflow with mutt.

For example you can prefilter incoming maiil, you can set up your favorite editor to compose Email messages and send them through mutt.

It’s been awhile since I last used it because I use Webmail but it’s still powerful. If I didn’t multiple boot so much I would consider it. O suppose with extreme scenarios I could make it work but I have other things to do.

Nevertheless it’s arguably the most flexible email tool ever, provided you’re the type who enjoys setting everything up yourself.

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[Colonel PanicMember]

Good call. I’ve tried Mutt but found I was spoiled with Thunderbird and its offshoots such as Betterbird and Epyrus in terms of how easy they were to set up; I never quite managed it with Mutt.

[sybokMember]

Happy mutt-ing!

I have been introduced to alpine (somehow I find friendlier to use) and keep using it with some e-mail accounts.
See e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpine_(email_client)

– You can change the default editor to other (probably ‘mutt’ can do the same, I do not know)
– The only disadvantage I have discovered is that the (default shortcuts) Ctrl+X and Ctrl+C are too close to each other.

[Brian MasinickModerator]

Colonel Panic wrote:

Good call. I’ve tried Mutt but found I was spoiled with Thunderbird and its offshoots such as Betterbird and Epyrus in terms of how easy they were to set up; I never quite managed it with Mutt.

The main reason why mutt is not very well known is that it trades simplicity for flexibility (almost like Emacs, except mutt is relatively small and fast). I’d suggest that the early UNIX users were much more interested in mutt than the typical ease of use chasers; it’s the people who always want to customize it their own way that go with mutt.

For me, the main reason I didn’t use mutt more often is that I already did have ANOTHER very flexible Email configuration. It was a TCL-based GUI interface to the Rand Mail Handler mh called exmh with a mail filtering front end, similar to something you can put in front of mutt too. Exmh had color configuration and the the front end hook I could put Email that I would generally delete in it’s own folder so I could quickly examine it, see if there was an ‘outlier’ that I actually wanted to read, then wipe out all of them with a select and remove.

In theory mutt could do some of the same things, though you’d probably have to program something to get the color coded sections. Still, for those who code, a certain small percentage of them would go for mutt!

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[Brian MasinickModerator]

I’ll say this: we happen to have a somewhat easier solution easily available that can do a lot of what mutt does but has more simplicity, mainly because it has reasonable default behavior – claws Email. Sylpheed is another similar Email client.

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[Colonel PanicMember]

Claws sometimes works with my e-mail provider and sometimes doesn’t, unfortunately; currently I’m able to receive e-mail messages with it but can’t send them. Sylpheed is even worse.

Tbankfully I have found one e-mail client that is easy to set up and use and works even in 32-bit AntiX and in Damn Small (which is based on it, and which I’m posting from now); Icedove-UXP. Hearty thanks to the Hyperbola community who worked on that one and made it viable for a modern distro.

https://www.hyperbola.info/packages/?sort=&q=icedove&maintainer=&flagged=

• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Colonel Panic.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Colonel Panic.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Colonel Panic.

[blur13Member]

I started with Alpine because it’s CLI and easy to use. Switched to mutt because it’s much more powerful but with a steeper learning curve. Recommend searching online for primers on sane defaults and the powerful filtering mechanism. Once learned it will speed up your email workflow. Runs on any system (even ancient ones). Using on multiple installs is simply a matter of copying configuration files. I can’t recommend mutt highly enough. Be prepared to put in the time to learn it properly and you’ll be rewarded.

[Brian MasinickModerator]

@blur13 I said it before: “it’s the people who always want to customize it their own way that go with mutt.”

Clearly you are one of those people! Now that you’ve done it I can see that you’re a great advocate for an awesome Email client. Like exmh, xmh and mh you can configure it to literally do whatever you want, and once you do, the possibilities are well worth the effort. exmh and xmh are graphical; mh is command-based. So mh is flexible like mutt, but the additional tools make them more configurable; you can get it all with mutt, so that’s another advantage.

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[Colonel PanicMember]

If I could find a way to set Mutt up with Fastmail (the e-mail provider I use), I’d certainly consider it,.

[Brian MasinickModerator]

Colonel Panic wrote:

If I could find a way to set Mutt up with Fastmail (the e-mail provider I use), I’d certainly consider it,.

I’m very rusty on these matters, but I’ll say this: it is definitely possible. You’d want to investigate POP3 if you use it, or IMAP4 and probably SMTP settings.

This will at least give you some parameters to consider, though the information is for Thunderbird, the setting values are the same, you’ll just have to do it manually. I believe a link for setting up mutt was already provided.

https://web.com/help/article/set-up-thunderbird

The lower part of the article specifies a table containing the port numbers needed to configure either POP3 or IMAP4.

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[Anonymous]

When you send a message, so far as I know, you have to save that message and then it would give you the option to send that message.

By default, that saved message is saved in your home folder as the file that is simply called

sent

Now, if you send another message, that new sent message is added to the end of the sent file.

I do not want that sent file in my home folder.

So I created a script that upon boot will delete this sent folder.

Other users may want to do this or do other things with the sent file.

Your choice as to leave it or remove it or place it somewhere else.

[blur13Member]

Thats not the way I have it set up, but I use it with gmail and outlook. I only download the headers for local storage, keep the messages on the servers.

There are python scripts that will allow mutt to authenticate/authorize using oauth2.

The creator of solarized has released color schemes specifically for mutt (use a terminal with no bold fonts for best results).

[Colonel PanicMember]

blur13 wrote:

Thats not the way I have it set up, but I use it with gmail and outlook. I only download the headers for local storage, keep the messages on the servers.

There are python scripts that will allow mutt to authenticate/authorize using oauth2.

The creator of solarized has released color schemes specifically for mutt (use a terminal with no bold fonts for best results).

Thanks, I hadn’t heard of it before;

https://ethanschoonover.com/solarized/

[Colonel PanicMember]

Thanks!

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